Way of the Sword
by Mari Ferolla
Summary: Okay, so death wasn't exactly how I thought it was. And a certain midget captain isn't making things easier for me. But then again, how could I expect becoming a Shinigami, fighting creepy monsters and living with an annoying brat to be easy? HitsugayaXOC
1. How to save a life

**Celebrating that I won't have more tests until July, I decided to upload my newest story! Weee!  
Bleach is so awesome, it's been really long since I wanted to write a fanfiction about it. I hope this one is okay and all...  
Nah, don't know what else to say, so... read on! ^.^**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Bleach, Yama-jii's vice-captain would actually be the evil mastermind who was using Aizen as a pawn. ^.^ But nooo, I don't own it, so... it's probably not happening. u.u**

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**[:Chapter 01:]  
[:How to save a life:]**

_"...I had just lost everything. Everything that mattered..."_

It was weird. Not exactly bad, but weird nevertheless. Feeling something ten times your body collide against you in a speed of 60km/h. The creepy red liquid coming out of places you didn't even know that it could and falling all over you until you're completely soaked with it. The air leaving your lungs so fast that you try desperately to get it back, until realization finally hits you: Hey, I'm not gonna need it anymore. And, finally, darkness.

That's what my brain managed to register during the short time my heart stopped beating and I left the world of the living. That's what it's like to die. And you know what? It's not half as bad as I thought it would be. I mean, it all happened so fast that I almost didn't feel pain, and my parents weren't there to cry over me. Not a big deal.

Okay, _what the heck am I talking about_? Of course it's a big deal! I freaking _died_ here! How can I be so calm?! I want to live, live! I still have an English test next week! And a competition! And I didn't get the chance of traveling abroad! _I can't die just yet_!

Wait. There's something right there… I know that people say that when you die you're supposed to 'stay away from the light', but… it's so pretty and inviting! Oh, and shiny. Really shiny... Oh, you know what? Screw what people say, I _am_ going there! Besides, what's the worse that could happen? I'm already dead anyway, nothing could be worse than that. Or so I think. Could it?

Even before I reached the light, my body was engulfed by it. I threw my hands in front of me and closed my eyes, for the light was too strong to keep them open. Through my closed lids, I watched as it slowly faded until I found it was safe to open my eyes again.

I was back. Back on the street. The truck was still there, a few centimeters from me. I was standing in front of it, completely unharmed. The blood I was sure to have felt wasn't there. Not even a scratch. Had I daydreamed it all? In spite of what kaa-chan says, I didn't think was I _that_ dramatic. Besides, it had been so real…

A high-pitched scream pierced the air, finally reaching my ears. I thought it had come from a woman on the left sidewalk, but soon I found it was impossible to tell. Many people were screaming, murmuring, staring at me with wide eyes. Their faces were as pale as a ghost's. I didn't get it. They should be happy, not scared. After all, nothing had happened. I was fine. And so was the little boy beside me, whom I had pushed aside just in time so the truck wouldn't run over him.

My eyes traveled from the crowd running towards us to the boy. He looked about eight years old. Old enough to know that you shouldn't stand crying in the middle of the street, especially when a truck is coming towards you. I wanted to smack his head really hard for that, but first I wanted to hear my thanks. I deserved it, it's not everyday that you save a life. Only then I noticed something. There was a strange chain coming out of the boy's chest. My eyes widened as I stared at it. How the heck was a _chain_ coming out of his body? Maybe it was just a trick of the light. I blinked. The chain was still there. Okay, so it _wasn't_ a trick.

The driver jumped out of the truck, as pale as the other people, sweating madly. I grinned and started to say I was fine and all, but he paid me no attention. Instead, he kneeled down on the street. What was happening to those people? Intrigued, my eyes followed his movement. And they widened. Oh yes, they widened more than they ever had.

A pool of blood covered the ground, coming from the immobile form in the middle of it. It was a teenage girl. Several cuts were open around her body, bleeding nonstop. The light brown hair was practically red, also covered with blood. Her dark brown, almost black, eyes were open, but there was no life in them.

I did the only thing a sensible person (though I don't really think I can be considered one) would do after finding out their own bleeding corpse lying on the street. I screamed. Louder than ever. I didn't know what I was expecting with that. Probably nothing. But I was too scared to think rationally.

Despite having so many people around, no one seemed to have heard me. Or even seen me. It was like I didn't exist. And I would have come to the conclusion that I really didn't if someone hadn't noticed me. The little boy I had just saved stared at me with wide eyes, guilt written all over his face. I was about to step forward and be sure that he could actually see me when the boy turned around and ran for it. I wouldn't have really been surprised (I mean, I was like a ghost, he had all the right to be running away) if, while the brown-haired was running, he hadn't passed _through_ a person. Yes, _through_. Now, _that_'s something you don't see everyday.

Letting my body react on its own, I ran towards the boy, through the same person he had. I yelped in surprise. Not only because I had actually confirmed my suspects that I was a ghost, but because I realized another thing. There was a chain coming out of my chest too. Just like the boy's, only that a bit longer. Without me realizing, my speed increased.

The boy wasn't exactly slow, but wasn't fast either. And I reached him just when he entered an alley with no way out. I would have said it was my lucky day if I hadn't just died, because this is definitely _not_ luck.

I held out my hand and grabbed the brown-haired by his collar. He struggled fiercely to get free, which only made me tighten my grip. I was _not_ letting him go away until he explained what was going on with simple words so even I could understand.

"Let go! Let go, obaa-san!"

Oh, no. The gaki did not just call me old lady. For his own good, he didn't.

"Are you deaf, obaa-san? I said let go!"

Alright, he did.

"Itai!" the boy cried out after I hit his head with a closed fist. My teeth were dangerously gritted and I had to control myself not to beat him up. "What was that for?"

"You call me 'obaa-san' one more time and you'll see more of these," I said in a threatening tone, glaring at the ungrateful gaki. He's lucky I'm a nice person, or I'd just push him towards another truck. "Now, care to tell me what happened?"

The boy sent me an odd look, as if the question was something really stupid. And, as I came to figure out later, it was.

"You just died."

"Yeah, I kind of figured out," I mumbled, rolling my eyes. "Then why ain't I in heaven, hell, or something like that? And where did this chain come from?"

"Because we're dead," the brown-haired answered, speaking slowly as if I was someone stupid. I really felt like smacking his head again. "These chains appear when people die." My jaw dropped. I had just ratiocinated something that would make me regret for the rest of my life.

"Wait a minute, your dead too?"

"No, duh. I just thought it would be cool to open a hole on my chest and put a chain in it," the boy said, rolling _his_ eyes this time. Mine would have shifted in annoyance if another matter hadn't come to my mind.

"You were standing in the middle of the street. But you're dead. So the truck would just have gone through you. I died because I ran to save a _dead_ person?!"

Before he could answer, my fist collided against his head again. The boy yelped in pain, rubbing his head. He sent me one of the angriest glares I had ever seen.

"What's _wrong_ with you?"

"I really needed to punch something and you were the closest person," I explained automatically. The boy snarled and mumbled something that I recognized as some curses that really shouldn't be taught to eight-year-olds. Then he stepped forward and started walking away.

"Oi, gaki, matte!" I called. The boy stopped on his tracks and I could hear another snarl coming from him. Probably because I called him 'gaki'. "Where you going?"

"Around," he said with a scowl.

"O-oi, what about me?" I asked, pointing a finger at my chest. The brown-haired shrugged with annoyance.

"I don't know, do whatever you want."

Before I could think of a sarcastic comeback, the boy ran off. This time, I didn't run after him and didn't punch him, though my fists were indeed closed. Now that he was gone, I thought better about my situation.

I had thrown my life away to save a boy – no, a damn _gaki_ – who was already dead. I couldn't believe it. What was I supposed to do now? Wander around the town until I found a way of dying of boredom? Doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

My feet moved on their own and, when I realized, I was almost half way there. For some reason I just couldn't figure out, I was coming back home. I wondered if my parents already knew what had happened. I could imagine their surprise. When I woke up that morning, I would have never thought I only had some more hours to live. How I would love to have enjoyed more those last hours.

I blinked twice when I found myself in front of the door. The house was quiet. At least I couldn't hear anyone crying or screaming hysterically. No one had told them yet. I had passed by a store with a clock that indicated my death had occurred about two hours ago. Maybe they still hadn't had time to tell anyone. I mean, the doctors in some hospital could still be trying to revive me for all I knew.

Those thoughts slowly left my mind as I shook my head. There was no time for that. I was there to pay one last quick visit and leave for good. Besides, I wouldn't be able to bear the sight of my parents living without me. I held out my arm and awkwardly thrust it through the door. I flinched a bit, uncertain if I really should be doing that, and entered with the rest of my body before I could change my mind.

When I said that my parents didn't know yet, I was wrong. I arrived just in time to watch as they received the news.

"Hitsuji-san," the cop started giving a serious look to both of my parents. It was strange the sight of a cop sitting on the same chair I used to sit during the meals. And even stranger seeing my parents with such apprehensive looks, as if the cop was there to reveal that I had been caught smoking marijuana. Yeah, how I wish it was so simple.

"Hitsuji-san," the cop repeated, trying to find the right words. Can't blame him. Telling a couple of parents that their only daughter died can't be an easy task. Finally, he put a hand on his pocket and took out something that I recognized as my ID. Even though I was dead, I couldn't help but being a little angry at him for taking my stuff without permission. "Is this your daughter?"

"Yes," kaa-chan said in a shaky voice, fearing the man's next words.

"This morning, there was an accident." I saw otou-san's body stiffen. Kaa-chan sobbed. Bet they already knew what he was going to say.

I thought I would be able to handle it. But no, I was wrong again. I knew I should've come sooner. Alright, I didn't know it, but I should have anyway.

My eyes shut tightly and I dashed out of the house before the cop had time to tell them. But, even when I was outside, I could hear it. Kaa-chan crying. Otou-san yelling at the cop about that being a lie. I sat on the ground with my back turned to the door, crossed my arms and buried my face into them. I felt like crying. But I fought back the tears. They were useless now. Still…

I had just lost everything. Everything that mattered. Family, friends… they had all been taken away. Just like that. All the plans I had, things I wanted to do, dreams… How could I achieve them if I was dead? The answer was simple. I couldn't.

I wondered if sensei had felt this way too. No. He had probably come up with a solution right away. And I needed to do just the same as him. Or at least as I thought he had done.

A deep sigh escaped my lips as I regained control of my emotions. I had to do something. You know, find a pastime for me to do during the next hundred years and then find another one. I raised my head and let my eyes widen slightly at the figure standing in front of me. One of my eyebrows was arched.

"What are you doing here, gaki?"

The brown-haired boy's blue eyes shifted in annoyance. Probably because I called him 'gaki' again.

"I thought you were taking all of this way to well. So I followed you," he said simply.

"Still think I'm taking it too well?" I mocked. A faint blush came to the boy's cheeks and he scowled, gazing at the ground. A smug smirk spread across my lips as I got up. I had just decided my plans for the next hundred years. That boy had better be prepared, 'cause I'm taunting him until then. "Right, let's go, gaki."

The boy puffed his cheeks like a blowfish and glared at me. The smirk widened and I was immediately sure I had made a good choice of plans.

"Takeru," he said out of blue. I blinked twice and turned to him with an inquisitive look. The brown-haired rolled his eyes. "My name is Akumari Takeru. Not 'gaki'."

"Oh," I said finally. A snicker came out of my lips. "You have a weird name."

"I do not!" complained Takeru, glaring at me even harder. "And what is _your_ name?" I smiled. A good question at last.

"Hitsuji Mitsue."

Takeru's eyes widened and he gave me an odd look.

"And you said _my_ name was weird?"

"Yes, indeed. Your name is very, very weird," I stated.

"Come on, yours is much weirder than mine!"

"Of course it is, Ant Demon-san," I mocked.

"At least mine doesn't mean sh- ITAI! That hurt, onee-san!" he cried out when I smacked his head. Again. What? It was pretty amusing. I couldn't believe I hadn't done that more times already.

"That's what happens when someone messes with my name, gaki," I told him, purposely not using his name. Takeru glared at me and muttered some dark words that I guessed to be curses again. Seriously, what _did_ they teach kids at school nowadays?

"Onee-san," said Takeru in a low voice after we had walked a few blocks. Where we were going? Good question. I just felt like walking. Through the walls. I had to enjoy my new 'abilities', right? After all, I would be using them for the rest of my… um, afterlife. Or whatever.

"Nani?" I asked, not really paying attention. I had just passed through a mail box. It was funny. I did it again. Hehe. Sugoi. Alright, enough now.

Takeru mumbled something, but I couldn't understand. I smirked smugly.

"Maybe if you speak louder I'll be able to catch a couple of words."

The brown-haired glared at me irritated. He repeated the sentence, louder this time.

"Arigatou for _trying _to save me."

My eyes widened considerably at that. He emphasized the 'trying' so as not to sound too mushy. As if that had worked. The smirk in my lips was quickly replaced by a grin.

"Even though you were useless anyway," he added, noticing expression with a slight fear. My grin didn't falter not even a bit.

"Aw, you're welcome! Who would have thought a gaki like you would actually say something so nice?" I said, reaching out a hand to ruffle his hair, just like I knew he would hate.

"Cut it out! Baka onee-san!" he added, trying to provoke me. I waved my hand dismissively.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Hey, you know what? I'm starving to death!" Takeru didn't look like he had liked the quibble. I went on. "There's a snack bar near here and I'm getting some!" I declared, rushing off to the direction I thought it was. In no time Takeru was running after me.

"Oi, matte!" he called, sounding surprised by my abrupt decision.

"Nah, you're too slow! If I were to wait for you, we wouldn't get there before tomorrow!"

"Bakamono!" yelled Takeru, eyes white in anger as he tried desperately to increase his speed and reach me. I laughed hard, running faster.

Some people had already told me I was a good actress. I knew it was just another way to say that I was a good liar. And, for the first time, I hoped they were right.

I just couldn't take kaa-chan's sobs and otou-san's expression out of my head. If I were lucky, the others would have a less depressive reaction. Little problem here: I'm not lucky. Not even a bit.

**

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That's it for this chapter! ^.^  
Yes, I really like to use the Digimon characters' names. First Hikari in my Naruto story, and now Takeru. =P  
Before you ask, the first Bleach character will appear on chapter 3. But I'm not telling who it is! Only one hint: it's one of my favorite characters. Good luck trying to guess it! -inserts evil laughter-  
And here are the meanings of the Japanese words. As you can see, I used quite a lot of them this time. All thanks to the awesome site of Japanese slang I found on Google! *.* Okay, so here it is:**

**Akuma - Demon**

**Ari - Ant (did you get the Ant Demon-san joke now?)**

**Arigatou - Thank you**

**Kaa-chan - Mother**

**Obaa-san - Old lady or grandma**

**Onee-san - Big sister**

**Itai - Ouch**

**Gaki - Brat**

**Otou-san - Dad**

**Matte - Wait**

**Nani - What**

**Sugoi - Cool, amazing**

**Baka or bakamono - Idiot**

**Hitsuji - Sheep (yes, I wanted to give Mitsue a weird last name. You'll figure out why later)**

**Okay, so that's all! And, please, don't forget to review! You know how much the reviews inspire me and stuff... besides, if you do it, the chances of gaining a cookie are bigger! Think about it: A COOOOKIE *.***

**-MariFerolla**


	2. Why dark alleys are dangerous

**Hello, peoples, I'm back! ^.^  
Thanks a lot for the reviews, favorites and alerts. This chapter has a little more action in it, if you liked the other one I'm sure you'll like it.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Bleach, Yachiru would have joined the fight against the Arrancars. AND KILLED EVERYONE WITH HER SUPER DEADLY MONSTER REIATSU! MUAHUAHAUHA! *cough* I mean... I don't own Bleach. u.u **

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**[:Chapter 02:]  
[:Why dark alleys are dangerous even for souls:]**

_"...I would never think souls could bleed - did we have blood for that?"_

People screamed madly, running off to all the possible directions. Some even bumped into each other and continued their way, their screams slowly dying as they ran farther. In less than two minutes the place was completely empty. I didn't think a crowd like that could disperse so fast. I didn't know if I should burst into laughter or blink twice and mutter 'baka'. So, instead, I just licked the two balls of strawberry ice cream. Um… yummy.

Takeru looked around with a dumbfounded expression and blinked twice. He muttered 'baka' and also licked his ice cream. His was vanilla. How he could eat it, I had no idea. Vanilla was no good at all. It barely had a taste! But strawberry was good. And chocolate. Yes, chocolate is very good. Especially when it was crispy. Um... I licked my lips with pleasure at the thought.

"You should've been more discreet, onee-san. Now they think the ice creams were floating on their own," the brown-haired told me in a tone that was close to lecturing. I ignored the fact that an eight-year old was almost scolding me and shrugged.

"It's no biggie. They'll probably just call some stupid ghost-hunter like Don Kanonji to exorcise this place," I said, vaguely remember that weird guy that appeared on TV some months ago. I still couldn't believe people actually bought tickets for his fake shows. Humans are strange creatures indeed…

Something then occurred to me.

"Oi, why can't anyone see us?"

"Which part of 'we're dead' did you not understand yet?" asked Takeru, staring at me as if I was the dumbest person he had ever met. Annoyed with the possibility of that being true, I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, Mr. Know-It-All, then how come _I_, when alive, saw _you_, who was dead? Ha! Answer _that_ now!"

"Maybe you're supernatural. I mean, you're too weird to be normal," he said. Apparently Takeru had hoped to annoy me with that statement, because he looked awfully disappointed when he saw me beaming with stars in my eyes.

"Sugoi! That's so awesome! I'm supernatural! Well, was. Nah, I still am! Sugoi!"

"Oi, I just insulted you!" he pointed.

"And I just came to the conclusion that I'm supernatural! Isn't it cool?"

"You? Hey, I was the one who said that!"

"You can't prove it!~" I said in a sing-song voice. Takeru growled and muttered some incomprehensible words. Whatever he was saying, I was quite sure about what he was thinking. This was going to be a long afterlife… To him, at least. _Huahuahaua._

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I had to admit. Being a soul was extremely… boring. Okay, perhaps it was cool during the first week, but what about after that? One month after that? One day you get bored of going through things or lifting stuff to scare people. And I eventually got annoyed by seeing lots of people I knew walking on the streets without me being able to go talk to them, because, hey, they wouldn't be able to hear or see me anyway. So Takeru and I kind of moved to the other side of the town, where we were sure none of our acquaintances would go in their sane, or even insane, mind.

Takeru and I were sitting on the branch of a tree, which we had been doing a lot lately. It should be about 4 am. And there was a pretty good reason for us to be awake so early. Actually, we had stayed up all night long, cause we – though I had the idea – decided to watch the sunrise, one thing we never thought of doing when we were alive. I just had to poke Takeru every five minutes and start a random conversation to prevent him from falling asleep, which happened uncountable times.

Talking about which, it was time to poke him again.

"Achi itte…" he muttered, not opening his eyes. I poked harder. Same result. A devilish grin crossed my lips. Time for plan B. Oh, how I loved plan B.

"WAKE UP, KERU-TAN!" I yelled. Right into his ear. Needless to say, that woke him up in a flash.

Takeru jumped on the branch, looking scared to death, and would have fallen off if I hadn't grabbed his collar. The brown-haired was about to swear something very unpleasant when I cut him off with one more round of questions.

"Has anyone called you 'Keru-tan' before?"

"No," he answered with a snarl.

"What about 'Keru-kun'?"

"No."

"'Keru-sama?'"

"Why would anyone call me that?"

"Alright, next question!" I declared, thrusting a fist into the air. Takeru gave me one of his odd looks that I happened to receive at least five times a day and was more than used to ignoring. "How did you die?"

"Hey!" he exclaimed, sounding offended. "You can't just go around asking people how they died! What if it's something personal?"

"Is it personal?"

"Not reall-"

"Then, how did you die?" I repeated with a grin. Takeru glared at me for a second and then lowered his head.

"Cancer," he said in a low tone. My gaze at him softened. I imagined how his parents must have felt. Probably worse than mine, cause they had to watch their son suffer until his last moment. I wouldn't have been able to bear it.

"Gomen," I said. "Must have sucked."

"Must have sucked even more being run over by a truck." I shrugged.

"Not really."

"And being run over by a truck to save someone who was already dead?"

"… yeah, that definitely sucked a lot," I admitted. The grin returned to my face as quickly as it had faded. "Yosh, next question! Why are our chains getting smaller?" That had been bugging me for some time now. The chains hadn't gotten drastically smaller, but at least enough for me to notice.

"How am I supposed to know?" snapped Takeru.

"Gomen, I thought you were smart."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!"

"Nah, no need to be so touchy, Take-chan," I said, trying the new nickname. I kind of liked it. I turned to Takeru, expecting a devious glare. Surprisingly, he wasn't even looking at me.

Takeru's head was down and his bangs fell over his eyes, so I couldn't see them. But I did notice the boy's clenched fists. I didn't need to be exactly smart to know he was mad. But I needed to be smart to know why. And I really didn't. I mean, it's not like I had said something utterly offensive, or that I hadn't said before.

"Don't call me that again," said Takeru in a low tone. His voice came out a little shaky, which surprised me.

"Alright, ochitsuite, it's no biggie."

I heard a groan coming from Takeru. The next moment he jumped from the tree's branch to the ground and started to walk away. No, wait, he was not walking. He was running. Good Lord, what had I done to that boy?

"Gaki!" I called, jumping off as well. But he just continued to run. Well, I didn't expect him to listen to me right away either.

My luck was that I was faster than many people, including Takeru, so catching up with him wasn't a problem. The brown-haired had just gotten into an alley in the back of a restaurant, with some trash and broken objects around. I held out my hand and grabbed his arm before he could run further. Actually, I had been aiming for his collar, but he moved in the last second.

"Let me go!"

"Hold on, gaki! Why did you run away in first place?" I said, holding him tighter as he tried to get away from my grip.

"I won't tell you!"

"Oh, really? Okay." Takeru's eyes widened and he stopped on his tracks just as I released his arm. He turned to me with a confused look. I raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged. "Nani? It's something that concerns you, I'm not butting in. But, can't lie, I'm curious. Now let's just go back before we miss the sunrise."

The brown-haired opened his mouth and I thought he was going to insult me, or something, but he just stared at me. I stared back for a minute, not wanting to be the first to break eye contact. But that inner contest suddenly seemed really stupid when we heard a noise of a heavy breathing. Takeru turned around, for the noise had come from behind him, and I turned my eyes to its source as well.

My brown orbs widened when they locked on two bright yellow eyes. The pupils were like a cat's, only that, whatever it was, it certainly wasn't anything like the feline. Actually, it looked more like a lizard. One _huge_ lizard. It even had a tail, long legs and claws. Its skin was grayish green, except for the head. The head was covered by a white mask that appeared to be made from a skull. And suddenly I remembered all of the reasons why I didn't like watching horror movies.

"Gaki?" I called in a whispered tone. "If this is a payback joke, okay, you got me. I've never been so scared in all my life. Can you make it disappear now?"

"I-it's not a joke," he stuttered, looking as terrified as me.

Oh, this is bad. Really bad.

"Run," I said, managing to keep the fear out of my voice.

"But what about you?"

"Do as I say, but don't do as I do. Now go for it!"

Fortunately Takeru detected the urgency in my tone and ran at the top of his speed in the opposite direction. The lizard-monster-thingy let out a bloody screech and held out his claws in my direction. Reacting by impulse, I grabbed a broken broomstick that I spotted lying on the ground and blocked the claws with it. Of course, a part of the stick broke apart and I was sent backwards by the strength of the blow, but at least I was unharmed. Well, almost. My back hurt, but it was nothing I couldn't manage.

Before the monster could attack again, I had already formulated a plan in my mind. And prayed to the heavens it would work. I took a deep breath and focused, knowing very well that I wouldn't be able to handle another hit.

The lizard swung its tail towards me, but I ducked and avoided being hit. The tail was just retreating above my head when I took an impulse and jumped on it. It was hard to maintain the balance, but I managed to climb towards the lizard's head. It realized I was there and lifted a claw in my direction. I ducked again, a little too late this time. The claw scratched my arm, but the damage hadn't been much. Ignoring the injure, I placed both of my hands on the stick, once using the two hands would make the blow stronger, and hit with all my strength against the monster's head.

I don't know what happened. When the stick connected to the head, a blue light came out of it, surrounding me. My eyes widened when I realized the impact had been stronger than I could ever have done. A small crack appeared on the white mask and the lizard screeched in pain. It swung its head to every side, trying to shove me off. Eventually, I lost balance and fell, barely managing to land on my knees. The monster was still screeching, too distracted to try to attack me. Taking advantage of its condition, I ran for it.

I turned left, to where Takeru had gone, and found him a few meters farther. Fear was written all over his face. He opened his mouth, looking as if he wanted to say something, but I didn't give him the chance to do it. I grabbed the boy's arm and dragged him away as fast as I could, not even thinking about looking back.

I don't know how much time we spent running. All I knew was that I was exhausted when we stopped. I had never been so scared in my entire life. Or afterlife. And neither had I ever run that much. Not even when sensei ordered me to.

"What _was_ that thing?" I breathed, looking back to be sure it hadn't followed us. I was incredibly relieved when I saw it hadn't.

"I don't know," Takeru said, sounding even shakier. He turned to me and I saw his bright blue eyes still hadn't returned to normal. "Onee-san! Your arm is bleeding!"

This time _my_ eyes widened as they traveled to my right arm, where the lizard's claw had hit me. It was probably because of the adrenaline, I don't know, but I hadn't realized how much it hurt until Takeru called my attention to it. And it hurt like when I made the test for entering the advanced class of kendo. Too much for words to describe. But what had surprised me hadn't been that. It was that my arm was actually bleeding. I would never think souls could bleed - did we have blood for that? Could we die again too?

"Nah, this is nothing. Should stop in some minutes," I lied, pressing a hand against the wound. I watched in relief as Takeru slowly calmed down and managed to avert his eyes from my arm.

"Onee-san, what did you do to that monster?" he asked.

"Well… I kind of hit its head with a stick the strongest I could, cracked it and ran faster than I thought I could." I just didn't mention the blue light or how I was completely clueless about how that had happened.

"Nani?!" yelled Takeru, his eyes widening again. "How did _you_ do that?"

"Itai, that hurt," I said, faking an offended tone. "For your information, I'm the Olympic champion of kendo!" I declared triumphantly. Takeru raised an eyebrow at me.

"Kendo is not an Olympic sport."

"Alright, alright. But _if_ it was, I would be the champion. Besides, people won't be able to resist the awesomeness of kendo for much longer. It _will_ become an Olympic sport."

"If you say so…" he mumbled, sounding unconvinced.

"Hey!" I snapped. "You can doubt me, but do not doubt _kendo_," I warned.

Takeru snorted. I did the same and, with a sigh, sat on the ground with my back leaning against the wall. The brown-haired sat beside me. We stood in silence for a moment, but I didn't mind it. I had always had a minute of silence after a fight. It was nice to know this time wasn't different. I almost jumped in surprise when Takeru spoke up.

"Onee-san. Gomenasai." I turned to him with a quizzical look. "If I hadn't run away we wouldn't have run into that monster."

"Yeah, that's true. Why is it that every bad thing that happened to me so far was because of you?"

"Onee-san!" cried Takeru in a mix of fury and shock.

""Kidding, gaki," I assured him. "But next time just warn me when I cross the line."

"You didn't exactly cross the line," he began carefully, suddenly looking sorrowful. I raised a brow at him. "It's just that… my kaa-chan was the one who used to call me 'Take-chan'."

I blinked twice, slightly surprised, and looked around. Was it just me or everything around wasn't as dark as it had been some minutes ago?

"Onee-san?" called, Takeru eyeing me with a glare. "Did you even hear to what I-"

"Ssh!" I said. Before the boy could protest again, I grabbed his head and turned it forward. His eyes widened.

The sight was indeed beautiful. Far beyond the buildings and trees, the sun rays began to thrust the sky, coloring it with orange and yellowish tones. There were no clouds that day, so the sunlight illuminated everything without leaving any shadow. Takeru and I watched the sunrise with wide eyes and mouths shut. It didn't take long before the sky turned light blue again, the first clouds began to appear and the sun was up. A smile spread across my lips.

"We should do that again some time. Right, gaki?"

My jaw dropped when my eyes turned to Takeru. The boy was fast asleep with his head tilted to the left, almost leaning on my arm. I rolled my eyes, not letting the smile fade. I should've guessed he would be tired. Running away from a gigantic creepy monster is enough to worn anyone out.

"Lazy butt…" I muttered softly before closing my eyelids and falling asleep.

* * *

**Aaw, wasn't that cute? ^.^ And Mitsue fights kendo, who would have thought (okay, I bet many people actually thought that)?  
So, they met a Hollow. And have no idea of what it is. Can you imagine the trouble it'll cause to them? I can! (Inner voice: duh, you're the author, of course you can... -.-')  
And here are the terms in Japanese:**

**Achi itte - Go away**

**Yosh - Okay**

**Gomen / Gomenasai - Sorry**

**Ochitsuite - Relax**

**Please review and motivate me to update this faster! =D**

**-Mari Ferolla**


	3. Not what I expected heaven to be

**I gotta admit, people, when I uploaded the second chapter, I was a bit disappointed. I had gotten three reviews and, after putting as much effort in this story as I suppose I have, I expected a little more. You can imagine my surprise in the second chapter. I seriously didn't imagine I would reach fifteen wonderful reviews with it! Thank you SO MUCH all of you! Reviewers, subscribers, readers... Thanks, you've really made my day! Now I know I'm DEFINITELY keep writing this!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach. Kubo-sensei does.**

* * *

**[:Chapter 03:]  
[:Not what I expected heaven to be:]**

_"...I had seriously imagined it different. Heavenlier...__"_

"Faster! FASTER!"

"I can't go any faster than this!"

"Then you'd better find a way quickly!"

Seriously. Why didn't I die with my kendo sword? It sure would be really useful. Especially with all those monsters popping out of nowhere to attack us. It was weird, but it seems to be getting more frequent every time. With all this running, who needs to work out?

I held out my hand to grab Takeru's collar and pulled him with me into a tiny alley, where the gigantic monster surely wouldn't be able to enter. Thank goodness, my calculations were right. It did nothing more than screech until our ears bleed and, half an hour later, go away. Takeru and I sighed in relief, both eyes widened to the size of golf balls.

I knew I was dead and it might have been just my imagination, but at that moment I could even feel my heart pounding against my chest. Well, not too long ago I figured out souls could bleed. What if we had a heart too? And heart attacks... Did I _actually__ die_ in first place?

"Can we go now?" asked Takeru in a whispered voice, as if fearing the monster would hear him and come back.

"Oh, but why? It's so comfy here," I said, repressing a roll of eyes. Takeru muttered something that I was sure I would not like to hear out loud and walked out of the alley. I followed him, just to make sure he wouldn't get himself killed (though the opposite was more probable).

We had just given the first step towards the street when a silhouette blocked our vision. Takeru and I yelped in surprise, almost preparing to run back to the alley. Actually, the boy had been half way there when he saw it was no monster.

It was a tall weird man wearing a plain black robe with a white sash tied on his waist and straw sandals. The man had a big and _very _weird afro hairstyle. Oh, and a sword's scabbard tied on his right side. If I didn't know he couldn't see us, I would've followed Takeru back to the alley. Kaa-chan always said, "Do not talk to strangers. _And_ strange people." I never really paid attention about the strangers, but I liked to keep myself away from the strange people.

"Hey, you two! What's with these odd stares?" the afro-haired asked, frowning at us.

"GAH!" I yelled pointing at the man with wide eyes. "The weirdo talked to us! The weirdo talked to us!"

"I know! I'm not deaf!" Takeru yelled back, with eyes even wider than mine.

"Who the heck are you?" I asked, ignoring the afro-haired's complains about not being a weirdo and me being a very rude girl.

The man's eyes glistened all of a sudden at my question and a smirk spread across his lips. I really had a bad feeling about that.

"I'm the elite Shinigami in charge of Karakura Town… Kurumatani Zennosuke!" he yelled, making a dramatic pose. One of his arms was thrust high in the sky while the other was positioned in front of him with a thumb up. Not to mention the smirk on his face that widened every second.

My feet moved automatically, dragging me one step back. At least _they_ have common sense.

"I asked who you are, not who you're supposed to be cosplaying," I said matter-of-factly.

"Dabo…" said Takeru, not caring if the afro-haired weirdo had heard him or not. And he had.

Mumbling something inaudible under his breath, the man started to unsheathe his sword. The blade glistened in sunlight, causing me to shudder and Takeru hide behind me. The only time I had seen an actual metal sword had been eight years ago in sensei's house. If the situation hadn't been so terrifying I would have even asked to see it closer.

What was up with that guy? Did he want to kill us? Oh, wait, that's not possible, 'cause we're already dead. _Right_? Come on, what happened to "rest in peace"?

"Onee-san! Do something, do something!" yelled Takeru, nudging my elbow fiercely.

"Me? What am _I_ supposed to do?" I asked, unable to find another thing to say.

"I don't know! _You_ are the kendo fighter here!"

"The kendo fighter who happens to have _no_ sword! And, just in case you haven't noticed, _he_ does!"

"Calm down you two!" said Afro-ossan, arching an eyebrow at us. "I'm just sending you to Soul Society."

"What the hell is that?" asked Takeru, glaring at the man. I put a finger on my chin thoughtfully.

"Sounds like an amusement park." Takeru's angry glare turned to me at this.

"It's _not_ a park!"

"How can you be so sure? You don't know what it is either!" I swear, if I weren't almost twice the brown-haired's size, I'm sure he would've tried to hit me.

"Oi, hold on a second," Afro-ossan said, his eyes widening. "You're for real? You don't know anything about Soul Society? Or Shinigami?"

"If we didn't we wouldn't be asking you about it!" roared Takeru, at the limit of his short patience.

I put a finger thoughtfully on my chin, recalling something my friend had told me concerning Shinigami. Apparently they were some ugly monsters from a manga she read called _Death Note_. And there was something about apples… Maybe if I gave this guy an apple he would go away? Darn it, why are apples never there when people need them?

"That explains a lot," Afro-ossan said, interrupting my thoughts. "Shinigami are the responsible for sending souls bounded to the human world, like you two, to Soul Society. I guess it's what you humans call 'heaven'."

"Honto ni?" I asked. "What about hell?"

"Why do you want to know about hell?" asked Takeru, raising a brow at me. I shrugged.

"What can I say? I'm a curious creature."

"Now just stay still as I send you there," Afro-ossan said. Before I could insist in my question about hell, he raised his sword, causing me and Takeru to scream again. Afro-ossan paid no attention to us and merely brought down the weapon.

Surprisingly, we weren't cut to a half. Neither were our heads sliced off. Actually, Afro-ossan didn't harm us in any imaginable way. Instead, he pressed the katana's hilt against Takeru's forehead. In a matter of seconds a blue kanji for 'soul' started to glow on his brow, causing my jaw to literally drop. I didn't get what was happening, but I did want glowing kanjis on my forehead too! After all, they were pretty.

My wish was soon granted and Afro-ossan did the same to me. Takeru screamed in fright while a small satisfied grin came to my lips. Afro-ossan smirked pleased, as though he had just finished a very tough job.

The blue glow from our kanjis soon spread through our entire bodies. Probably unconscious of what he was doing, Takeru grabbed my hand and squeezed it. A light flashed, blinding us, and I was forced to shut my eyes. I felt the ground below us trembling forcefully for a moment and stumbled forward, almost falling down. Well, apparently Takeru didn't have the same balance I did, because _he_ fell, dragging me with him. I grumbled unhappily as my body hit the dirt.

After some seconds, feeling that the ground had finally stabilized, I guessed it was safe to open my eyes.

I blinked. Once, twice, many times. I only realized my mouth was hanging open when it started to dry. Don't look at me that way. There's a perfect reasonable explanation for my unusual reaction. _We had been sent back in time_. And stop giving me that look!

You know those small cities you see in movies that picture the feudal era in Japan? Well, it was like I had been teleported to one of them. I was standing on a quite wide dirt street with lots of small wooden houses huddled on each side. There were some people on the street, all of them wearing dirty kimonos or ancient clothes. No jeans or converses. And no one seemed to be surprised that Takeru and I had practically materialized there. Oh, no. A few people stopped to stared at us, whispered something among themselves and continued to do whatever they were doing. I _hated_ feeling so ignored. Especially when I had just time-traveled.

"Onee-san," whispered Takeru, looking around with wide eyes. "Where are we?"

"Well, definitely not in an amusement park," I started, thinking about a way of exposing my theory without having it sounding too ridiculous. Impossible. So I just went on. "We were actually teleported to feudal Japan!"

"NANI?" yelled Takeru, almost falling backwards as his eyes turned white.

"I know! I feel like Kagome!"

"Excuse me," I turned around to see whose voice that was and saw a smiling old lady. She wore an old kimono that might have been red once, but, because of the dirt, it seemed more of a reddish brown. Her silver hair was tied up in a bun, accentuating her round face, "but you've just arrived right now, didn't you?" I nodded eagerly, causing the lady's smile to widen. "It's been some time since new souls have arrived in this district."

"Souls?" I asked.

"District? We're not in the feudal era?" questioned Takeru, quickly getting to his feet. The lady laughed softly at his question.

"No, of course not! This is Soul Society." I could feel Takeru's glare piercing every inch of my body, but I didn't have time for that.

"_This_ is Soul Society?" I practically yelled, eyes almost jumping out of their orbits.

When Afro-ossan told us about this place (about five minutes ago) I had seriously imagined it different. Heavenlier. You know, light colors, floating above the clouds, little naked angels and some gods here and there. But this actually looked like a feudal town. A poor one. And people didn't seem so happy to be there. Wasn't heaven supposed to be perfect and adorable for everyone?

"Does it mean we're still dead?" asked Takeru with a hint of disappointment in his tone. Obaa-san nodded sadly. I frowned.

"And why doesn't anyone here have those chains?" Takeru's eyes widened, only now realizing his chest was plain empty.

"I don't really know how it happens, but once we arrive here we all lose our chains. My name is Kudashi Suteki," she introduced.

"Hitsuji Mitsue," I said with a respectful bow.

"Akumari Takeru," said the boy. A sly smirk came to my lips.

"But you can just call him 'gaki-chan' when you feel like it."

"Urusai, baka!" he snapped angrily. But the obaa-san didn't seem to have heard us.

"Different last names… Aren't you two siblings?"

The sound of two loud thuds was heard when Takeru and I collided against the ground. Kudashi-baa-san arched an eyebrow at us. Takeru was the first to recover from the shock, quickly jumping to his feet.

"No way! We're not related!" he yelled, waving his arms frenetically.

"Yeah, who would want to be related to him?" I snapped, pointing a finger to Takeru. The brown-haired gritted his teeth and sent me the evilest of all the glares. I coughed. "Well, what did you say about districts anyway?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"You're new, so you wouldn't know about it, but Rukongai is divided in four regions, North, South, West and East," Kudashi-baa-san told us. "Each one of these has 80th districts. They are numbered in descending order on how far they are from the center. The districts closer to it are peaceful and lawful, while the father ones are incredibly violent."

Takeru's and my face turned pale at this.

"Which district are we in?" he asked, trying hard not to stutter. Obaa-san smiled.

"This is West Rukongai's 71st district." Takeru's face paled even more, contrasting to mine, that relaxed when I sighed. It could have been worse, after all.

"And what is this 'center' you mentioned?" I asked. Takeru's eyes widened at my question.

"You were actually paying attention?"

"Well, yeah. What's there to be surprised about?"

"You usually stop listening when someone speaks more than two consecutive sentences." I blinked twice and turned to him with a blank look.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

"NANI? I didn't even talk too much this time!" yelled Takeru, with his eyes turning wide white. I laughed.

"Nah, just teasing you, gaki. But, seriously, were you talking to me?"

"D-DABO!"

Behind the obaa-san's head, an enormous drop of sweat started to take form as she stared at us, probably wondering if we ever stopped fighting. Unfortunately, to her, the answer was a straight 'no'. But then again, that's what made living with gaki funnier and funnier each day.

"In the center of Rukongai, surrounded by a great wall, there is Seireitei. This is where the Shinigami live," she explained, noticing our confused expressions. My eyes widened.

"Shinigami? Isn't that what Afro-ossan said he was?"

"You mean there are other weirdos like that there?" asked Takeru with a slight shudder. I grinned.

"Of course there are! I'm staring at one right now!"

"_Urusai_! You're much weirder than me!"

"I won't deny it. But you're still very weird."

"Am not!"

"Uh-uh, right…"

"Do-baka!"

Kudashi-baa-san arched an eyebrow at us, wondering whether she should interfere or not.

When Takeru and I finally took a break, Kudashi-baa-san pointed that the night would be falling soon and we had no place to stay at. I laughed nervously, trying to think of something. Luckily, she offered her house, where she lived with her husband. Very pleased with her offer, we accepted.

The wooden house was awfully small, even smaller than the Kendo Academy. It had two small bedrooms and a kitchen, where there was also a table for the meals. Even so, I couldn't help but feel welcome the moment I stepped in. For some reason, the place was really cozy.

Kuma-jii-san looked just like those old kung fu masters you see in movies. Small, fragile, eyes that didn't seem to be open, bald and a pretty long white beard. But I seriously doubted that he could kick ass like in the movies. Even so, he was nice and welcomed us with a genuine smile.

"It's actually pretty rare having kids arriving in this district," he told us when Kudashi-baa-san started to prepare the dinner. Seeing that, I turned to Takeru with a sly smirk.

"Shouldn't you be helping her?" I asked in a whispered tone, so none of them could hear me.

"Nani? Why me? Why don't _you_ go instead?" I faked a tired sigh.

"Alright, alright. Don't blame me when karma transforms you into an insect."

"NANI?" Takeru said, forgetting to keep his voice low. Kuma-jii-san sent us a confused look, to which I just laughed before getting up and going help Kudashi-baa-san. During this whole time Takeru kept giving me nervous glances, most likely wondering if I had been serious when I talked about karma.

* * *

"Isn't it weird?" Takeru asked out of blue. I knew it wouldn't take much longer. He had been too quiet those last minutes. It was my mistake to think I would lead a calm and uninterrupted sleep. Forcing my eyelids to remain as open as they could be, I rolled on the mattress to face him.

"There are lots of weird things out there. You'll have to be more specific." Takeru didn't seem to mind my sarcasm this time; that was a first.

"We came to a town, there are lots of other people, you even bled that time when you fought that monster… it's like we didn't even die. Like an afterlife." He paused, waiting to see how I would react. I merely stared at him.

I had thought of that many times already. It was too weird. I could even accept if we were just wandering ghosts, but since the day that monster appeared I began to get confused about what we actually were. There was no way to deny it: that thing wounded me and it even bled. I was freaking dead; there should have been no blood! What if we died in our so called 'afterlife', what would happen?

I had no idea that Takeru had also started to notice these things. But I guess he still hadn't thought of the possibility of dying again. And it was better not to worry him about it until I was a hundred percent sure, and even then I would probably linger as much as possible.

So, putting on the smile that had accompanied me through all the bad times, I answered, "Well, if this is afterlife, let's enjoy it the most we can. Especially 'cause there's no school or whatever to hold us back!" Takeru looked like he wanted to slap his forehead. My smile widened. "Night, gaki!"

He mumbled something under his breath, which I knew it was a curse. Ignoring it, I closed my eyes and tried my best to travel to the tiny world of my dreams. Still, there was one thought that kept pestering me. We are in Soul Society, which means everyone who ever died must be here somewhere. So… he must be here too. Sensei… I wanted to find him.

* * *

**Dabo -** Complete idiot.

**Honto ni? -** Really?

**Jii-san - **Old man or grandpa

**Rukongai** - City of Wandering Souls

**Urusai -** Shut up

**Well, I promised, didn't I? I told you the first Bleach character would appear in this chapter. And he did! Now, tell me: were you actually expecting the elite Shinigami in charge of Karakura Town, Kurumatani Zennosuke? xD Sorry for those who thought it would be Hitsugaya or Matsumoto... but they'll show up, eventually. Oh, and I hope everyone understood the Inuyasha reference.  
Alright, Takeru and Mitsue arrived in Rukongai. Cheers! But this doesn't mean the end of their problems. In fact... it's just the beginning -scary grin-.  
Please, be nice and review! ^.^ Constructive criticism, suggestions and things of the sort are welcome! Bye-bye!**

**- Mari Ferolla**


	4. In case of lack of sword, use a broom

**Uh? What? I actually took less than a week to update this story! AAAH! What's happening to me?! O.o  
As many of you asked for in your lovely reviews (THANKS!), this chapter is a bit longer. I really had fun writing it, so... here it is! :D**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Bleach, all the crack pairings would have their chance (especially HitsuRuki!).**

* * *

**[:Chapter 04:]**  
**[:****In case of lack of sword, use a broom:]**

_"...I knew it wouldn't be fast enough. I mean, I'm no Chuck Norris - he never dies..."_

A whole month had already passed. And I couldn't say it had been in a flash. Living in Rukongai wasn't exactly exciting, or even new, except for the fact that wherever I looked at I saw lots of dead people. Alright, I was dead myself, but stuff like that never ceased to amaze me. I just had to start making up random excuses whenever somebody asked why I was staring at them with a dumb look. Yes, that happened more than once.

Kudashi-baa-san and Kuma-jii-san ended up letting me and Takeru stay definitely in their house. Of course, I wouldn't just take advantage of their niceness, especially when I figured out they were incredibly poor, just like most of the families in the 71st district. Kudashi-baa-san had a small job, cooking for some people at a small restaurant, but Kuma-jii-san's health prevented him from working. I managed to get a job in the only grocery shop in the district. The payment wasn't much and I was often bugging Kazou for increasing my wage. The only reason why I think he hadn't fired me yet was because I beat two thugs that tried to rob the shop that month, which none of his previous employees had managed to do. So he endured my presence each day.

Takeru would sometimes spend the day in the shop with me, bugging everyone around and – almost never – helping a bit with the costumers. Most of the days, however, he was out with some other kids he befriended during our short time there. I still hadn't found anyone around my age there and, according to obaa-san, it didn't seem that I would.

That day, gaki wasn't around. There hadn't been many costumers and Kazou had told me to clean the shop. Two hours later, I was almost falling asleep on the broom. And I would have succeeded if it weren't for the threatening glares Kazou kept sending me whenever our eyes met. I wondered what would happen if I hit him with the broom… Um, tempting.

"Why don't you just stop slacking off and go buy a new broom?" Kazou asked in a rough tone, snapping me out of my thoughts. I furrowed my brows.

"What's wrong with this one?"

"It's too old," he said, rolling his eyes as though it was obvious. I resisted the urge of rolling mine too. Kazou walked towards me and placed some money on my hand that I figured to be how much the broom was worth. "And, if there is any change, don't even think about keeping it to yourself. I will know if you do."

"Wouldn't dream of it," I swore solemnly, giving my boss a quick salutation. My goofy grin was the only thing that ruined the seriousness of the gesture. With a loud scoff, Kazou returned to the back of the store.

I grimaced for a second, wishing he had found a better excuse for me not to fall asleep. But the grin was quickly back to my face and I left.

There were several brooms in front of the shop, more than I had seen my entire life. A drop of sweat slid down my forehead at the thought. I quickly bought one of them (the most expensive, so there wouldn't be any change. Ha! Take _that_, Kazou!) and made my way back. I was almost there when I saw a familiar brown-haired walking down the street.

"Hi gaki!" I called, loud enough for some people to turn to us. Takeru turned five different shades of red, which almost made me burst into laughter, and looked around to be sure none of his friends had heard me.

"What, now you have to clean the streets too?" he asked, in an obvious (and failed) attempt to annoy me, pointing to the broom.

"If this means a higher wage… yes!"

"Dabo…" mumbled Takeru, shaking his head slowly. I playfully stuck my tongue out at him.

"You're just jealous 'cause no one pays you to buy brooms."

"Oh, yeah. Can't contain the jealousy."

"HA! I knew that!"

Takeru rolled his eyes and opened his mouth for one of his usual comebacks. However, a loud _bam!_ noise interrupted him. The street's environment changed in a flash. Where, before, there were calm inhabitants doing their daily shopping, now there were lots of chaotic people running and screaming in terror. I tried to stop one of them and ask what had happened, but he just shoved me away and continued to run.

"Onee-san," called Takeru in a shaky voice. I turned to him with a frown and saw he was pointing somewhere in front of us. My eyes traveled to that direction, widening more at each second.

I had already been having some doubts, but, in that moment, I was completely sure Afro-ossan had lied to us. At least partially. Rukongai _couldn't_ be heaven. In heaven everybody is happy, there is no poverty, or thugs like the ones I had to beat and, surely enough, there are _no_ huge lizard-like monsters with white masks like the ones chasing us in the human world. Like the one I was seeing now.

"Holy crap," whispered Takeru, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Don't tell me those things followed us all the way here!" I yelled in panic before grabbing Takeru's arm and started running at the top of my speed in the opposite direction.

The monster screeched loudly and walked towards the mass of terrorized people. Maybe it was my imagination (hey, it wouldn't be the first time), but that one looked _a lot_ bigger than the others. The thought only made me increase my speed, which caused Takeru to be actually dragged by me.

"Lock your houses! It's a Hollow!" I heard some people scream. My eyebrows furrowed a bit.

"What's a Hollow?"

"This is not time for that! Just keep running!" yelled Takeru desperately. I couldn't help a pout at his uninterested reaction, but did as he said.

The crowd began to disperse through the streets. I myself was about to enter an alley when I noticed something. The monster – Hollow, or whatever – had stopped. I did the same, unable to wonder the reason for that. My eyes widened when I saw a little girl fallen in front of the monster, screaming helplessly. It was about to attack her. And no one was around to help.

"Onee-san, hurry up!" Takeru insisted, tugging my arm. I didn't move. His eyes widened and a concerned expression took over his face. "Onee-san?"

Without wasting another second, I dashed towards the little girl. Ignoring Takeru's terrified screams, I ran as fast as my legs allowed me to. The monster didn't even notice my presence and raised his claw. The girl's screams became louder. I clenched my fingers around the broom on my hand.

I felt as if the force of the blown was going to send me flying away. Actually, I was surprised when it didn't. When the monster brought down his claw, I was sure the broom wouldn't be able to handle it. You can imagine my expression when I saw it hadn't broken. That surely was one hell of a broom. No wonder it costed that much. I made a mental note to thank the salesman later.

Surprising me even more, a blue light came out of the broom, just like that first time in the alley. I took a step forward and, only Kami knows how, managed to shove the claw away. Needless to say that the monster wasn't pleased with that.

It thrust his claw in the air towards me, much stronger and faster this time. I bit my lip to repress a pathetic yelp (I still had my pride, after all), grabbed the little girl and jumped out of the way.

"Run, run, run!" I shouted desperately, pushing her forward. The girl quickly got up and did as I told her, to my relief. I jumped to my feet too, running to the right before the monster's tail could collide against my head and crack my skull. It would hurt too much.

I used the broom to defend against another attack from the claws, but this time things went a little wrong. The broom flew out of my hand, falling a few meters away. I gritted my teeth, mentally slapping myself. A kendo fighter should never let go off her sword. Or the broom she's using as a sword.

The monster turned its face to the fallen broom and, recognizing it as the only thing that prevented it from having me as its meal, broke it with one of its paws. My face fell. If I miraculously managed to escape from that monster, Kazou would kill me. Stupid easily-breakable broom.

Now that the hamper was destroyed, all of the monster's attention turned to me. I had already started to step backwards as fast as I could, knowing that if I turned my back to it my death would be certain. Not that I would have any chance if I faced it. Especially when it swung its head towards me, teeth barred. I spun on my feet and ran for it, though I knew it wouldn't be fast enough. I mean, I'm no Chuck Norris - he never dies. I was done for.

Wait. Was that the sound of something colliding against metal?

I actually fell backwards. If the adrenaline hadn't taken over my nervous system, I would have felt my butt hurting. But I was too concentrated on the old man with long grizzly hair wielding an actual sword against the monster's teeth to care. Small detail: they weren't even two meters away from me.

"Hey, you okay, girly?" a male calm voice said from my left. This time I couldn't help a squeak as I fell aside.

The man stared curiously at me for a second before chuckling. Eyes widened, I took a look at him. He seemed to be around his mid-forties, long brown hair tied in ponytail, pink and flowered kimono, a straw hat and the most carefree smile I had ever seen. He looked like a hippie.

"I'm alright," I said, quickly sitting up. My eyes turned to the old man who had saved me from the monster. I noticed he held the sword with only one hand, making no effort at all. Then, with a single swing of it, he cut the creature in a half. Its loud screech echoed through the street before it vanished in the air. My eyes widened in awe as I stared at the man. Gods, did I want to do that too.

When he turned to me with a concerned look, I could see he wasn't exactly old, only the hair gave this impression. He looked just a little older than the hippie one. He wore a black shihakusho and a white haori over it. The other man beside me laughed heartedly.

"Chill, Jyuushirou, she's fine. Looks like we arrived just in time." The white-haired sighed in relief. "Now, were our eyes fooling us or were you actually fighting that Hollow with a broom?"

Noticing the man's amused tone, I let out a nervous laugh. I could feel my cheeks' temperature rising and knew I was blushing (only a bit, I hoped).

"Well, yeah… uh, what's a Hollow?" I asked, trying to change the subject and hide my embarrassment. The white-haired's eyes widened slightly.

"You don't know? It's an evil spirit, like the one which was attacking just now."

"Oh. I'm kind of new here and all…" I said apologetically.

"Still, you have quite an impressive reiatsu." I tilted my head aside with a confused look.

"A what?"

"Onee-san!" I heard Takeru's voice calling. I turned my head backwards and saw him running towards me. I grinned and opened my mouth to speak up, but he was faster.

_Whack._

Did I ever mention gaki had an awfully heavy punch? If not, I'm mentioning now. I was pretty sure my brain would be forever damaged because of that.

"How stupid _are_ you? Do-baka! We've already died once; do you want to go through it all _again_?"

Well aware of the flames burning dangerously in my eyes, I raised my hands to strangle him. Seriously, I was going to. But a hearted laughter literally stopped me on my tracks. I turned to Hippie-jii-san, though unable to glare at him. After all, he did save my life. And I knew I would have done the same in his place; the scene must have been hilarious, at least to the ones who hadn't been whacked on the head.

"Don't worry, little one, she's safe now," he said, patting Takeru's head. I watched as the boy's face turned deep red with amusement.

"I'm not worri-"

"Oi, oi, more respect to him!" I cut off, patting his head as well. It was fun. Especially because he looked like he was going to explode at any moment.

"Excuse me, but what is your name?" White-jii-san asked with a smile.

"Ano, Hitsuji Mitsue," I answered.

"Hitsuji-san, uh? I'm Ukitake Jyuushirou, captain of the 13th division in Seireitei."

"And I'm Kyoraku Shunsui, captain of the 8th division," Hippie-jii-san said. I tilted my head aside.

"Captains? Divisions?" Divisions of what? Were they militars? But they didn't look like them. They didn't have weird uniforms or hats.

"You don't know about it?" Ukitake-taichou _[captain]_ asked, mildly surprised.

"You are Shinigami, right?" Takeru asked with a small frown. My eyes widened when they nodded.

"Oi, how did you know?" the brown-haired rolled his eyes.

"Kudashi-baa-san told us that Shinigami lived in Seireitei. Any smart person could figure this out."

My brown orbs narrowed into a murderous glare. What was that supposed to mean?

"The Shinigami are divided among 13 divisions, the Gotei 13. Each one of them has a captain and the one from the 1st division is the Soutaichou _[General]_, the first Shinigami," Ukitake-taichou explained as I nodded in awe. The first Shinigami… he or she must be really powerful. Sugoi!

"Hitsuji-chan," Kyoraku-taichou called and I turned to him. "It's pretty dangerous for someone with your reiatsu – your spiritual energy," he added at my confused stare, "to just walk around Rukongai defending herself with a broom." Oh, yes, that reminded me, Kazou would still kill me for that. Gods… "This way you'll attract more Hollows. Have you ever thought of attending the Shinigami Academy?"

I blinked. Once, twice, many times. Takeru, on other hand, had his jaw dropped to the ground. The two captains were still smiling at me. It didn't look like a joke.

"You for real?" I asked. "There actually is an academy for this kind of thing?"

"This is not the surprising part!" Takeru hissed, sending me a glare. "Do you _really_ want _her_ to become a Shinigami?"

"Should I be offended by your question?" I muttered with a small scowl.

"As a Shinigami, you would learn incantations, reiatsu-control, sword skills and would help to defend Rukongai and the human world against Hollows like that," Ukitake-taichou said, wisely ignoring our questions. He had me interested at the "sword" part. Very interested. "You would have to attend the Academy everyday and within six years you would graduate and become a Shinigami."

Sounded interesting… Until he came to the "everyday and within six years" part. I had a job and had to get food and stuff like that for gaki, Kudashi-baa-san and Kuma-jii-san.

Ukitake noticed that I didn't respond right away, which wasn't very normal for me. But he didn't mind. Instead, his smile widened.

"You don't have to answer anything right now. Think about it and tomorrow morning I will send some of my Shinigami to hear what you decided. We won't force you to do anything," he assured one more time.

"Think about it! Do you really want that _she_ becomes a _Shinigami_?" Takeru insisted, positively convinced that Ukitake-taichou wasn't on his right mind. I really think I should have taken that as an insult…

* * *

Kudashi-baa-san listened to the story with eyes incredibly widened. I had never seen an elder looking so scared before. Of course, Takeru exaggerating about the Hollow's size didn't contribute to calm her down.

"Come on, it wasn't so big," I said, giving him a slight punch on the arm. Takeru frowned.

"Are you crazy? That thing was ten times your size, its claws were huge and-"

"Hehe, you and your imaginative mind…" I said nervously, clasping my hands over gaki's mouth. I kneeled his legs, causing him to fall down, when I felt his tongue coming to lick my hands. Takeru cursed, as he did was too often, and glared at me.

I seriously couldn't tell who was more surprised. Takeru, Kudashi-baa-san or me. Not about the whole Hollow-fighting thing. Though I don't think I will ever get used to that, it wasn't the first time. But becoming a Shinigami? Like Afro-ossan, Kyoraku-taichou and Ukitake-taichou? I certainly didn't see that coming. But I liked it. Unfortunately, liking wasn't enough.

"So, what are you gonna do?" Takeru asked with a tiny scowl. I shrugged.

"Well, right now I'm going to prepare some miso ramen for us and, if you allow me to, I would like to eat it, and-"

"I'm serious!" he yelled with white wide eyes. "Are you going to this Shinigami Academy thingy or what?"

"Ano…" I mused, scratching my neck a bit. "I'm not sure yet. Probably not."

"_You'll just waste this chance?_" I almost jumped, alarmed by Takeru's tone. He was close to hissing. The last time I saw him so mad was when I first called him 'Take-chan'. And I seriously didn't want to revive that moment.

"I have a job, I don't think Kazou will just let me quit whenever I want."

"Is it because of the money? I can do it, then!" Sometimes I really, _really_ hated how perceptive Takeru was. As if I would let him waste time in that shop with Kazou bossing him around.

"Over my dead body!" Takeru rolled his eyes and looked like he was going to remind me that we were already dead (as if I could ever forget that) when another voice cut him off.

"Mitsue-chan." We all turned to Kuma-jii-san in surprise. Not only because he had spoken up, which, actually, didn't happen very often; he was a quiet type. But also because of the deep frown he on his temples. During the time Takeru and I were living in Kudashi-baa-san's and Kuma-jii-san's house, I had never seen him with another expression but a peaceful smile. The change almost made me shiver cowardly.

"Do you know how many people can work under Kazou? Any of those fools you see around." I didn't know Kuma-jii's words could be so harsh either. Itai. "The Shinigami always come, defeat the Hollows and leave. Sometimes they won't even bother talking to us. Do you know how many people I've seen them inviting to become a Shinigami? _None_." I opened my mouth so as to say something, but quickly closed it. Kuma-jii-san didn't seem to notice. "You will have the rest of your days to find a miserable job. But will you throw away the only chance you have of becoming a Shinigami and actually doing something that matters?"

The thing about old people is that they're generally right. Like, ninety percent of the times. At least I had never seen an old person being wrong, other than in movies. But then again, it's not like I had met many elders. Anyway, Kuma-jii-san's words had really struck me. I knew he was right. Or so my brain told me.

Besides, sweeping was a very boring job. And Kazou was a jerk. But you already know that. What about the things I could do as a Shinigami? Well, I could use a sword, which was already awesome for me. And I'd have to defeat the so called Hollows and send souls to Soul Society. I might even meet Afro-ossan again, who knows? I had nothing to lose. And lots, _lots_ of things to gain.

One of the most important decisions in my life _and_ afterlife… and I made it even before dinner. Who would have thought?

* * *

"Oi, wake up! Wake up, baka!"

If he kept pushing me around like that I would certainly hit my head on the wall and have a concussion. And, even so, I just kept my eyes tightly shut. People may call it 'stubbornness', but the word 'determination' is more appealing to me. Though I really wanted to jump out of bed and go meet the Shinigami Ukitake-taichou mentioned as fast as I could.

"Wake. UP!"

Poor gaki… little did he know that I was already awake! HA! I hadn't been able to sleep that entire night. It's not that I was nervous… I was _terrified_. My stomach kept spinning around and I don't think it was anything related to the food. Kudashi-baa-san is a good cooker. But what wouldn't I give for a pizza sometimes…

"That's it!"

Before I knew it, I felt something really heavy jumping on my body. The air quickly left my lungs and I tried desperately to get it back. I didn't have time to check what had happened. Not that it mattered; it was pretty obvious.

"Itai!" I heard Takeru scream when my fist whacked his head. The boy's body rolled off mine and I found myself breathing normally again. Oh, how I loved to breathe…

"Alright, I'm ready to go!" I declared, jumping to my feet with wide open arms. I caught a glimpse of Takeru's venomous glare and snickered to myself. I never got tired of that.

Cautiously so as not to make the slightest noise and wake up Kudashi-baa-san and Kuma-jii-san, Takeru and I opened the door and exited the small house. The sun had risen just one hour ago, so there weren't many people on the street. And, from what I could see, no Shinigami.

Takeru yawned loudly, put his hands crossed on the back of his head and leaned against the doorframe, looking around with a somewhat bored look. I could feel an enormous drop of sweat forming on the back of my head. For an eight-year-old, he sure liked to play it cool.

Ignoring the boy, I wondered how the Shinigami would be. Perhaps all of them would have afros, just like that ossan in Karakura! Oh, wait, would I have to have an afro too? Nah, but Kyoraku-taichou and Ukitake-taichou didn't have one. That's too bad… And about the swords, maybe all of them had special superpowers. After all, it's not every sword that can send souls to Soul Society, like Afro-ossan's did. Sugoi…

Glancing at Takeru, I noticed he had a frown on his face and was staring oddly at something on our left. I followed his stare and noticed two adults dressed in black shihakusho. A man and a woman arguing with a passion that almost made me want to step back.

"It's been _two hours_ and we couldn't find her! It's obvious that you mistook taichou's directions," the woman complained.

"Shut up, ape face!" the man snapped angrily. "I absolutely sure that this is what Ukitake-taichou said. You're just jealous that he trusted _me_ with this piece of information, not you."

"The heck?! Ukitake-taichou would never trust you over me! He knows I admire him more!"

"In your dreams!"

By then, every passerby was already staring at them as well, not that the two seemed to notice. Or they just didn't care. More like the last one. Takeru and I exchanged a glance.

"It might be just my imagination, but I guess they are the Shinigami Ukitake-taichou sent," I told him.

"Oh, you _think_?" he snorted. "No wonder he wants you to become a Shinigami. You're just as much of a baka as they are!"

The next second Takeru was lying on the ground, black swirls instead of his eyes and a huge bruise on the top of his head. Oh, and there was smoke coming out of it too. With a silly smile plastered on my face, I waved an arm and called them. "Oi, Shinigami-people-san! Ukitake-taichou sent you, right? I'm Hitsuji Mitsue!" By now I had already given up on staying away from strange people.

"Eh?" the two of them exclaimed, turning in sync to me. The next second they were right in front of me, which almost made yelp in surprise.

"Pleased to meet you, Hitsuji-san!" the man said loudly and with so much discipline that I actually thought he would salute. "I am Sentarou Kotsubaki, here to escort you to the Shinigami Academy!"

"And I am Kiyone Kotestu, here to escort you as well!" the woman said in the same tone as the man.

I grinned and was about to greet them again when Kotsubaki shouted, "Oi! Stop mimicking me, booger girl!" Kotetsu was visibly irritated by the name-calling.

"Why would anyone want to mimic an idiot?"

Before I knew it, they were arguing again. That reminded me of someone… My eyes traveled to Takeru, still on the ground, with a big drop of sweat hanging on his forehead. And then back to the two Shinigami. Um… If only I could remember who it was… perhaps someone at school.

"We're still here, you know…" mumbled Takeru, pushing himself up. Kotsubaki and Kotetsu immediately stopped on their tracks, as if someone had just thrown cold water at them. I thought it was pretty amusing.

"G-gomenasai, Hitsuji-san!" Kotsubaki quickly said.

"Yeah, gomenasai!" Kotetsu followed. I waved my hands with a nervous smile.

"Nah, that's okay, guys. You're funny." They seemed satisfied with the compliment.

"Now we have to take you to the Shinigami Academy, or else we'll be late," said Kotsubaki, momentarily looking at the sky. I guessed he could tell the time just by looking at the sun.

"Alright then," I said and turned to Takeru. The boy's blank stare quickly turned into an annoyed one when I ran a hand through his hair and left it messier than before. "Don't give others trouble, don't drink sake where anyone can see you and tell Kazou I'm sorry about the broom, kay?"

"What do you mean 'where anyone can see you'?" he asked with a suspicious look. I stuck my tongue out at him, but didn't answer. Better let him figure out on his own.

"Yosh, I'm ready to go!"

"Great!" Kotetsu said with a smile, grabbing my hand. "We'll be passing by 71 districts and we're short of time, so we're going to use shunpo _[flash-steps]_, alright?"

"Sure," I said with a nod. "Just what is–?"

Before I could finish the sentence, Kotetsu started to run, dragging me along. I tried to follow her, but her pace quickened. It kept getting faster and faster, until everything around me was a mere blur. I couldn't tell how fast we were going, but I bet everyone in the racing team would be jealous to death of Kotetsu.

Just as suddenly as she started to run, the Shinigami stopped. The inertia would have thrown me forward painfully if Kotetsu hadn't been still squeezing my hand. Not that it prevented me from feeling dizzy and extremely uncomfortable.

"Gomen, we weren't so fast. I'm not an expert in shunpo yet," apologized Kotetsu, still smiling. My jaw literally dropped. If she wasn't an expert and was that fast… I was dying to know the actual experts. Ignore the pun.

"Now, if you had let _me_ take her…" Kotsubaki's voice came from behind us. I almost fell again, startled by his presence. Since when had he been following us?

"Oh, don't even start it, ape-boy!"

I shook my head as my vision started to adjust, not even paying attention to Kotetsu and Kotsubaki anymore. My eyes widened when I saw a complete different scenery from before. There was still a sort of feudal town behind us, just that this one was much cleaner and livelier. And, right in front of my eyes, a huge, I repeat, _huge_ white wall, and a hugely huge monkey-like giant. Oh, and he had a red hat. My mouth dropped once more when I laid my eyes on him.

"Yo, Jidanbou!" Kotsubaki greeted. It took me some seconds to realize he was talking to the giant monkey-person.

"Hello," Jidanbou, said, waving his hand. "Who is this girl?"

"Hitsuji Mitsue-san, she's here to take the test to enter the Academy," Kotetsu told him. The giant nodded.

"Alright, then you can pass." He turned around and bent down, only then causing me to realize that he had been standing in front of a gate just as high as the rest of the wall. With some visible difficulty, Jidanbou lifted it enough for us to go through.

"Arigatou, Jidanbou!" Kotetsu said as she walked towards it. I nodded with a smile.

"Arigatou!"

We had just stepped inside when Jidanbou let the gate close behind us. The ground shook slightly when it happened, causing me to cringe a little. Kotsubaki and Kotetsu looked perfectly accustomed to that and didn't even look back as they walked away. I quickly made my way after them, knowing better than being left behind.

Go straight, two rights, straight again and one left. I made sure I had memorized that. Though the Academy was actually pretty hard to miss. It was a big white building with wooden rooftops, in the same style as those ancient imperial palaces. Really beautiful. There must be lots of students there, if the place is so big.

I followed Kotsubaki and Kotetsu inside, turning some corridors here and there until we finally reached our destination. It was an open and empty training ground. There was only one person standing there; a middle-aged woman with short black hair wearing the same attire as the other Shinigami. First I thought she was glaring at all of us. Then I realized it was just at me. It was like she wanted to pierce me with her eyes. And for a moment I actually thought she would succeed.

"This is Hageshi-sensei," Kotsubaki told me. "She will be the one applying your test."

"Alright, got i– wait. _Test_?"

Call me an airhead if you want, but I didn't recall anyone telling me anything about a _test_. I knew nothing about Shinigami, I had just met them, for heaven's sake! They couldn't go asking me questions about that!

"Don't think that just because Kyoraku-taichou and Ukitake-taichou asked me to open an exception and let you take the test in the middle of the term it'll be easy," Hageshi-sensei said in a tone as venomous as her glare. I shook my head.

"No, not at a–"

"So you think that you're already in because you got the approval of two captains?"

"I didn't say tha–"

"Very well, I shall not hold back then."

"Wait just a minute there!" I quickly yelled, afraid she would distort my words again. "What kind of test is it?" Hageshi-sensei sighed.

"I was told that you haven't been in Rukongai for too long, so it's obvious you don't have capacity of doing the written exam." My eyebrows twitched. Coming from her, that sounded more like an insult than coming from any other person. "And, of course, you wouldn't know kidou _[demon arts]_. So I will test you on sword techniques."

My eyes gleamed in happiness. If it was sword techniques she wanted, I would give her sword techniques! Those Shinigami-guys seriously don't know who their dealing with.

The woman picked a shinai _[bamboo sword]_ for herself and threw me another one. I caught it with one hand, unable to hide a grin. Oh, how I had missed holding a shinai… If it were for me I surely would have hugged it, but I was before the person who would determine if I passed or not the test, so better not to make her dislike me more than necessary.

"We'll begin now," Hageshi-sensei said as soon as my fingers grasped the sword. Immediately, she started to run towards me and tried to hit me with an upper attack. I blocked it easily and was about to counterattack.

A blink of an eye; that was all the time Hageshi-sensei needed to materialize behind me out of nowhere. I spun on my feet as fast as I could and blocked another hit. Though I tried to maintain my expression blank, like sensei's, my eyes must have betrayed me. You know, I'm not very used to this thing of people running on the speed of light. That was one huge handicap. And, come on, I wanted to learn that!

The black-haired didn't waste a second before she started sending powerful blows from all the directions. I was fine with that, defending all of them. As long as she stopped teleporting, I could handle it, piece of cake. But, duh, I couldn't just expect her to give up on her advantage. I jumped back a little and started attacks of my own. I had to control myself not to shout a kiai _[battle cry]_. Surprisingly, Hageshi-sensei seemed to be having some difficulty with them. I started to strengthen the attacks and make them faster. And, all of a sudden, when I looked, she wasn't there.

I jumped aside just in time to avoid a blow that could have cracked my head coming from behind. The woman barely waited for my feet to touch the ground and aimed for them. I lost my balance while dodging and put a hand down for support. When I saw Hageshi-sensei's left side completely unprotected, I knew I couldn't miss that chance. My shinai hit her, quickly and strongly. I thought she would stop with that, but by the corner of the eye I saw her quickly aiming another blow for my head. I fell on my back, but managed to defend it in time.

I repressed a relieved sigh, but Hageshi-sensei wasn't so enthusiastic.

"If this were a real fight, in a position like that, you would most likely be dead," she said. I raised an eyebrow, not the slightest bothered by her sharp tone.

"And so would you."

I heard a "hmpf" coming from the black-haired as she removed her shinai. I sat up with a small scowl on my face. Alright, the fight had been fun and I really had missed kendo, but was she not going to let me enter the Academy just because she apparently didn't like me? That's ridiculous! I want my lawyer!

I was so busy thinking about suing her (though I'm not exactly sure how to do that) that really thought I had misheard something when I heard she say, "You're in."

"Uh? Nani?" I asked, tilting my head a bit.

"It's exactly as you heard," Hageshi-sensei said, sending me her usual nasty glare. "From today on, you are a student of the Shinou Institute of Spiritual Arts."

For a moment I could swear I heard a faint dramatic background music.

That was so… amazing! Sugoi! Since when had the name gotten so big?

**

* * *

Yes, I did do a lot of research for this chapter! On both kendo and the Shinigami Academy. For those who are wondering, Shinou Institute of Spiritual Arts is its full name, but most Shinigami just call it Shinigami Academy. First I was just going to make Mitsue enter, but then I thought: "What? They're going to let her in just like that? No way! TEST TIME!" And so I created Hageshi. Sorry if the test was too uncreative, but I didn't know what else to do. I mean, it's practically the only thing Mitsue knows about, just as she said. And at first I Ukitake and Kyoraku were going to take her there themselves, but I wanted to include Kiyone and Kotsubaki in the story. They're just too funny! xD  
I have no idea when I'll be posting the next chapter, but I'll try to do it soon. Keyword: try.  
I hope you liked it and thanks a lot for reading! ^.^ Now... review? Please? Just if you want to... Please?**


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